[TBO]

So nobody mistakes them for a Cop.

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[ranger1968]

So nobody mistakes them for a Cop.

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The best, most accurate post of the thread.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

Most uniformed agencies’ brass don’t do this. They wear a normal uniform or a suit. There are some that do. Usually they’re bigger city departments, though there are exceptions.

 

[Dragoon44]

So nobody mistakes them for a Cop.

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Brief, and yet says it all.

I hate you sometimes!

 

[unit 900]

Image was king back in the day. We wore white shirts at all ranks in Baltimore until the late 90's. Lieutenants and above had white hats to make them stand out at any scene. The class A uniform was all we had. Not at all utilitarian, they needed dry cleaning. The white shirts, as many have noted, were akin to carrying a road flare in alleys and on the beat in general. When I was a sergeant, it was easy to see who was a multiple day wearer of the same shirt. I would send them to their lockers to get a fresh, presentable one. The pic is me in 1976, white shirt and dress blouse, nonchalantly supporting the weight of a Dodge Coronet.

 

[computerpodiatrist]

Image was king back in the day. We wore white shirts at all ranks in Baltimore until the late 90's. Lieutenants and above had white hats to make them stand out at any scene. The class A uniform was all we had. Not at all utilitarian, they needed dry cleaning. The white shirts, as many have noted, were akin to carrying a road flare in alleys and on the beat in general. When I was a sergeant, it was easy to see who was a multiple day wearer of the same shirt. I would send them to their lockers to get a fresh, presentable one. The pic is me in 1976, white shirt and dress blouse, nonchalantly supporting the weight of a Dodge Coronet.

View attachment 901759

Did your mustache have its own rank and paycheck?

I feel like that thing was awesome enough to have its own civil rights and ID.......

 

[BlueBayShepherd]

So nobody mistakes them for a Cop.

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The best, most accurate post of the thread.

Brief, and yet says it all.

I hate you sometimes!

Don't the supervisors/brass have to work for several years as regular cops (patrol, etc) before they get promoted?


There is no way for somebody to attain higher rank without first working for a while as a regular cop first, right?

 

[Dukeboy01]

Don't the supervisors/brass have to work for several years as regular cops (patrol, etc) before they get promoted?


There is no way for somebody to attain higher rank without first working for a while as a regular cop first, right?

It's sarcasm, mostly. There is more than a grain of truth in it, however.

The sad fact that I have noticed in both the department that I worked for and others that I have observed is that truly deserving leaders are few and far between and that their ranks get thinner the higher up the chain you go. What we mostly have in LE (and the military, FD, etc.) is managers. Most of them are mediocre at best.

Yes, everyone starts at the bottom as a patrol officer. Most people stay there their whole career, of course. When it comes to getting promoted there are certain "types" who pursue it.

Basically, if you really enjoy doing "real" police work, whether it's patrol or detective or traffic enforcement, and if the salary structure is such that you can earn a good living doing those frontline things, you don't promote. If you don't like frontline policing or you really suck at it or you need the money, you do.

 

[Dragoon44]

Don't the supervisors/brass have to work for several years as regular cops (patrol, etc) before they get promoted?


There is no way for somebody to attain higher rank without first working for a while as a regular cop first, right?

Dukeboy01 pretty well covered it. But let me add this.

On the job there are people with 15-20 years experience they are critical to the effective operation of the dept.

Also on the job are people with one years experience repeated 15-20 times. Unfortunately many of these make rank With any luck the dept. functions effectively DESPITE them.

 

[pgg00]

Also to add to what @Dukeboy01 and @Dragoon44 said. Most of the ones that try to promote as fast as they can are ones that try to avoid street work. They tend to hide from calls (especially ones where they may have to fight). Promotion is an easy way to hide and not work the road. They can then dictate to others while taking zero risks and at the same time getting a little revenge on those braver than them

 

[NYhunter518]

We have to wear white shirts from Sgt up. The shirts suck it sucks standing out and it’s impossible to get more than a day out of a shirt.

Like others have said most get promoted for all the wrong reasons.

I love the rank of Sgt because it gives me the ability to be at every call that I want to respond to and some that I would rather not. I will never take the LT test because that puts me in an office where I hate being.

Every Dept. is different but for us a Sgt is an awesome rank as long as you’re able to take all the **** from the bottom and the top.

I was a Sgt for 4 years in the USMC and it was the best rank there too.


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[unit 900]

Did your mustache have its own rank and paycheck?

I feel like that thing was awesome enough to have its own civil rights and ID.......

I'm going to paraphrase Joseph Wambaugh: "The BPD owned more mustaches than the Iraqi army." He was referring to LAPD in his original statement of course. It was mustaches and Marlboros back then, when police work was satisfying and fun.

 

[pgg00]

We have to wear white shirts from Sgt up. The shirts suck it sucks standing out and it’s impossible to get more than a day out of a shirt.

Like others have said most get promoted for all the wrong reasons.

I love the rank of Sgt because it gives me the ability to be at every call that I want to respond to and some that I would rather not. I will never take the LT test because that puts me in an office where I hate being.

Every Dept. is different but for us a Sgt is an awesome rank as long as you’re able to take all the **** from the bottom and the top.

I was a Sgt for 4 years in the USMC and it was the best rank there too.


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I agree. When I promoted to Sgt i viewed myself as patrol first and a supervisor second. I felt it was my responsibility to shield my guys from crap upstairs and also sing their praises and defend them to the admin if my guys were in the right. I have zero desire to get behind a desk.

 

[ranger1968]

Don't the supervisors/brass have to work for several years as regular cops (patrol, etc) before they get promoted?


There is no way for somebody to attain higher rank without first working for a while as a regular cop first, right?

Most of them "work" for several years ducking calls , kissing ass, and sucking up;

So NO, they never really did any real police work; they merely put in the time.

 

[ateamer]

Also to add to what @Dukeboy01 and @Dragoon44 said. Most of the ones that try to promote as fast as they can are ones that try to avoid street work. They tend to hide from calls (especially ones where they may have to fight). Promotion is an easy way to hide and not work the road. They can then dictate to others while taking zero risks and at the same time getting a little revenge on those braver than them

Anyone who has a goal of being promoted, especially if they formulate that goal before at least five years on, rarely makes a decent sergeant. The best promotions are the guys who never planned on it, don’t really want to promote and need to be talked into it. They wind up being promoted because they were already leaders and their peers recognized it.

Rank should choose the man, not the other way around.

 

[bdcochran]

Best guesses:
1. to distinguish themselves from the bad guys; and,
2. to advertise they are no longer beat cops who routinely get dirt and blood on their uniforms.

 

[bdcochran]

There is no way for somebody to attain higher rank without first working for a while as a regular cop first, right?

Totally wrong. Los Angeles had a police chief a short time ago. He had been a park policeman in an east coast city and could not pass the California test!

 

[Maccabeus]

Don't the supervisors/brass have to work for several years as regular cops (patrol, etc) before they get promoted?


There is no way for somebody to attain higher rank without first working for a while as a regular cop first, right?

As the others have said, yes, that's sorta, kinda, mostly true.

But, here's another example of how it doesn't always work that way. A new guy applied to my agency with some particular undergrad degree I've since forgotten that was attractive to the department brass. They believed he had admin skills they wanted (alphabetizing or apologizing to the public or something like that), so he was hired, sent to academy, went through field training, put on day shift for maybe a year, and then moved into admin. all before even making Senior Officer. He's probably a chief somewhere these days with a year of gentle road work under his belt.

 

[steveksux]

I thought they wore white because they’re so removed from real police work they’re technically virgins again.

Randy


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[Vigilant]

Most of the white shirts in my little neighborhood should have been wearing an inmate's uniform. But there were exceptions, and those were the ones I strived to stay on the same page with.